Brushless shaving cream



Patented July 4, 1939 BRUSHLESS SHAVING CREAM Wolf Kritchevsky, Chicago, 111., assignor to Kit Products Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware No Drawing.

8 Claims.

My invention relates in general to shaving cream. It relates more in particular to the socalled brushless shaving cream of the nonvanishing cream type and which does not depend for its action upon the lathering effect of soap.

Preparations employed for shaving have in general a two-fold object. They soften the hair as well as the skin on the face by emulsifying the natural oilpresent on the skin, and they also lubricate the skin so that the razor will pass over the same easily.

Ordinary shaving soaps are made empirically without any thought of these two functions, but it will be obvious that they must to some extent perform both functions in order to be usable. Those skilled in the art have found that the use of ordinary soaps is not satisfactory and accordingly attempts have been made in the past to produce a shaving cream which would perform both functions required in a more satisfactory manner. These creams are made usually from free fatty acid, usually stearic acid, and 511thcient soap to emulsify the stearic acid in water. Some spermaceti wax or paraffin or other waxes or similar compounds have also been used to make the cream non-vanishing A mixture of types of substances described emulsified with a relatively large amount of water (sometimes with some glycerin added) is well known. When spread on the face, they leave a substantial deposit of the emulsified stearic acid and waxes which act as a lubricant to prevent the razor from pulling or scratching,

In most of these preparations, a thorough washing of the face is first necessary to remove the natural oils. Otherwise the cream of itself would not soften the beard. As a general rule, these creams are fairly efficient but they are still subject to considerable improvement to remedy their outstanding defects. One difiiculty is that in order to function satisfactorily as a lubricant they must have a relatively large amount of fats or waxes in relation to the soap present and this causes them to be too greasy, making it hard to remove them from the face and from the razor.

When the amount of wax in proportion to the soap present is decreased so that they can readily be washed from the face or razor, these creams do not lubricate well. Moreover, they all leave something to be desired from the standpoint of soften- Application August. 26, 1938, Serial No. 226,903

ing the beard. Still another shortcoming is that the emulsions are not sufficiently stable and in cold weather they freeze and the emulsions break. Moreover, they cannot be employed satisfactorily when the water employed on the face is cold.

The principal object of my invention is the provision of an improved brushless shaving cream of the non-vanishing cream type.

Another object is the provision of a brushless shaving cream of the non-vanishing cream type which obviates all of the dificulties hereinabove set out. 1

Another object isthe provision of a brushless shaving cream of the non-vanishing cream type which will soften the beard even though the beard has been washed only slightly or not at all before the application of the cream.

Other objects and features of the invention will be apparent as the detailed description progresses.

I have found phosphatide, such as lecithin, with or without other chemical substances, which, as far as I know, has never been employed in brushless shaving creams heretofore, to be highly efficacious in brushless shaving creams, the major ingredients of which are fatty acid such as stearic acid and water in the form of an emulsion. The emulsion so produced has very excellent properties in softening the heard to a much greater extent than the conventional brushless shaving creams heretofore employed. It has a great advantage in being readily washed from the razor, while the remainder left on the face after shaving is as readily removed from the face by washing. The product also can be made of such consistency that, while it may be freely washed from r the razor, it will not possess the undesirable property of falling from the razor during shaving.

The creams consist for the most part of a fatty body like stearic acid or any other normally solid at" Old fatty acid like palmitic acid, or similar normally may be employed, in which case it reacts with the fatty acid or the like to form a soap. The quantity of phosphatide such as lecithin may range from about 0.1% to about 5% or somewhat more or less. In the usual case, the quantities indicated will serve the purpose. It will be understood, however, that the proportions may be varied particularly where supplemental surface modifying agents are employed as hereinafter described.

Perfumes and antiseptic agents may be used in a small percentage as required. The water content preferably ranges between 50 and The resulting product is a non-vanishing brushless shaving cream of whatever consistency may be desired; a cream which is stable, which, when put on the face, spreads until a very thin layer is obtained, which readily softens the beard, and which washes off very easily with water by dissolving or dispersing in the water solution; a cream which will not thin out on the face and fall off the razor during shaving.

The lecithin or phosphatide may or may not be supplemented by so-called surface modifying agents among which may be mentioned the higher molecular weight alkyl or alcohol sulphates and sulphonates such as those disclosed in Patents Nos. 1,968,793 and 1,968,794; the corresponding phosphoric acid esters of such alcohols; the sulphuric acid and phosphoric acid esters of higher molecular weight ethers and esters of polyhydroxy substances or polyhydric alcohols as disclosed, for example, in British Patent No. 364,107; and numerous other surface modifying agents such as are disclosed in United States Patents Nos. 1,822,977; 1,822,978; 1,822,979; and 1,881,172. When using any of these compounds together with lecithin or like phosphatide, the

, amount of lecithin or the like may in general be decreased.

The phosphatide may be derived from various sources. I prefer to employ lecithin and the latter may be obtained from various sources such as egg yolk, soya beans or other plant material, cerebrospinal tissue, and the like. Other animal or vegetable phosphatides related to lecithin may also be employed such as cephalin, sphingomyelin, and the like. For commercial and other reasons, soya bean lecithin is preferred and it will be understood that the same should be ofproper color and quality so as not to affect adversely the brushless shaving cream,

For the better understanding of those skilled in the art, I give herenbelow some representative examples of brushless shaving creams made in accordance with the present invention:

' Parts Stearic aci 65 Coconut oil fatty acids 15 Petrolatum 15 Paraflin 10 Lecithin 5 Monolaurin mono-sulphate, sodium salt 1 Water 327.5 Wilkinite 20 10% caustic soda 32.5

' 1 Parts Stearic acid 20 Soap 5 Lecithin 3 Mono-sulphuric acid ester of coconut oil mixed fatty acid monoglycerides, sodium or tri-ethanolamine salt 1 Perfume 1 Water 71 Parts Stearic acid 25 Soap 2 Glycerin 2 Lecithin 1 Mono-sulphuric acid ester of mono-laurin,

sodium or triethanolamine salt 2 Carbolic acid 0.1 Perfume 0.5 Water 80 Parts Palmitic acid 20 Triethanolamine 5 lecithin 3 Lauryl sodium sulphate 1 Perfume 0.5 Menthol 0.5 Water 70 has been formed. The lecithin with or without a the surface modifying agent is then added while the mass is at about 60 degrees C. to 65 degrees C. The emulsion is then allowed to cool and it is stirred'while cooling until it reaches a tem-.

perature of about 40 degrees C. The perfume and antiseptic are then added. The cream is then completed and while still at approximately 40 degrees C. is placed in containers such as collapsibletubes or jars. Upon standing for a time, the emulsion again thickens to form a fine, homogeneous, easily spreadable cream. It will be understood, of course, that the order of mixing the ingredients and the procedure employed may be modified without departing from the spirit and novel teachings of my invention.

It will be appreciated that the examples set forth above are to be construed in an illustrative manner and not by way of limitation. Formulae of varying composition may be employed together with my improving agents, as will be readily understood by those skilled in the art. The invention is, therefore, not to be limited except as defined in the appended claims. The present application is a continuationinare-e317 part of my copending application,. Serial No. 646,497, filed December 9, 1932.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A non-vanishing brushless shaving creain comprising a plastic emulsion of oleaginous and aqueous materials and containing a minor proportion of a phosphatide.

2. A non-vanishing brushless shaving cream comprising a plastic emulsion of oleaginous and aqueous materials and containing a minor proportion of lecithin.

3. A non-vanishing brushless shaving cream comprising a plastic emulsion containing a normally solid higher molecular weight fatty acid and aqueous material and containing from about 0.1% to about 5.0% of a phosphatide.

A non-vanishing .brushless shaving cream comprising a plastic emulsion containing stearic acid and aqueous material and containing from about 0.1% to about 5.0% of lecithin.

5. A non-vanishing brushless shaving cream comprising a plastic emulsion of oleaginous and aqueousmaterials and containing a minor proportion of soya lecithin, the oleaginous material comprising, at least in part, a normally solid higher fatty acid, and the aqueous materials Per cent Oleaginous material 5 to Aqueous material to Phosphatide 0.1 to 5 7. The product of claim 2 wherein the oleag-J inous material constitutes, at least in part, stearic acid, and wherein the ingredients are present in substantially the following proportions:

Percent 15 Oleaginous material 5 to 30 Aqueous material 50 to 80 Lecithin 0.1 to 5 8. The product of claim 4 including a soap, and wherein the ingredients are present in sub- 20 stantially the following proportions:

Percent Oleaginous material 5 to 30 Aqueous material 50 to 80 Lecithin M2 to 5 Soap 2 to 10 WOLF KRITQSKY. 

